Blessings...

I have fallen behind yet again...in my blessings. My excuse...I have been enjoying my blessings way too much this month! I have been cherishing the most important blessings most of all; my family, my friends, and most of all, my Savior. This December I was ever so blessed to realize how commercialized i had made Christmas in years past. I always tried to focus on my Savior and his birth in years past, but this year I REALLY realized and set in stone my testimony of what the true meaning of Christmas is. This year has been a hard year for our family. However, it has been one of the best years as well. Through the challenges that we have faced lately I have learned a lot about myself and one thing I have realized about me is how much I really do depend on my Savior and His atoning Sacrifice for me and for my family and all of those around me. I have truely gained an enormormous appreciation for the atonement and am so grateful for it in my life and in the lives of my family. I have been truely blessed with the knowledge of Him and His love for me and if I but come unto him and ask Him, He will take my fears, sorrows, and trials from me. I have found immense comfort in this knowledge this month and therefore I have stengthened my testimony of it greatly and have found that it has been the best way that I can celebrate HIS birth. I know that my Savior lives and he knows who I am and He loves me.

Here's some things that have happened in December with my blessings...

Sledding Down our icy driveway is one of the kids' favorite things to do in the winter????

My annual cookie exchange with my friends! One of my favorite Christmas traditions of the season.

Visiting Dads and Grandpas. Merry Christmas! We love you! We miss you!

The PEACE girls on Christmas Eve in their new Peace jammies

Ice Cream cones Christmas morning! What a great breakfast!

Michael and Calli having their Christmas Carol Jam session. It was so fun to watch them play together. It kind of made me want to start learning the guitar!!

The Kiddie table Christmas Eve. So adorable! Yummy dinner too.

We had Christmas Eve with my family. It was so fun to have Jon and his family there and Michael and his family, and don't forget...Tim and Ben. We had a great time eating dinner and opening presents from mom. It was hard not to have Dad there for the first Christmas, but hopefully we served his memory proud by enjoying each other so much. The kids love being at Grandma's and love surrounding themselves with their cousins. It was a special night.

The Christmas Spirit

The Christmas Spirit

Blessing #47

My mom left for a little vacation to go and see my sister Sara and I have missed her sooo much. Since I have been thinking about what my life would be like without her, I realized that I had not done a blessing post for her yet! My mom is one of the most amazing blessings in my life. We have a lot in common. She is the most supportive woman I know! Anyone can go to her and get the support that they need in all things. She amazes me everyday with her good attitude about life and her love for her family. She and I do a lot together. Mostly we go to lunch and go shopping and get diet drinks together. She loves to quilt and is the most incredible quilter I know (and I'm not saying that because she's my mom-I mean it!). She is a great cook, her house is always clean and homey, and she knows how to give an incredible gospel doctrine Sunday School lesson. She is a super duper Grandma too!! My kids adore her as much as I do. I joke about how my mom fell in love with Jeff before I did and she has always been such a good mother-in-law to him. Losing her husband has been one of the most difficult things that she has gone through. But she has triumphed and has shown all of us her testimony in forever families by the way that she has conducted her life since he has been gone. I am sure that Daddy is so proud of her! She truly loves us and we truly love her and the blessing she is in our lives!

Blessing #47...MOM

Blessing #46

I was finishing up on the decorating for Christmas this morning. I was setting up all of the nativities that we own. Most of them are Calli's. Grandma Nelson gets her one every year for Christmas. Some of them have angels that go with them. This year I felt differently about the angels as I was placing them in their position watching over the nativity. I am little ashamed to admit that all of the other years, I have hesitated to place the angels. I feel almost sacrilegious saying that-but it is true. I am not sure what held me back...If I can be so bold, I wasn't sold on the angel idea. I believed in angels I guess. The scriptures speak of angels. However, I wasn't sure, for sure, until this past year. I can now say that we have angels watching over us and looking out for our best interest and they are assisting our Heavenly Father in the work with the Living and on the other side. I am truly blessed to know that there are angels, true angels among us.

Blessing #46...Angels

Girls Night Out

$ For Gas to drive down to Utah

$ For tickets to see New Moon

$ For Cheescake Factory

$ For Tickets to see a Billy Joel/ Elton John concert that ended up getting postponed until Feb.

$ For tickets to see another movie that night because the concert was postponed

(Blind Side...Amazing show BTW)

$ For a room at a Salt Lake Hotel with a really hilarious front desk Gal

(A visit to see my Grammy and Papa)

A girls night down in SLC with a good friend, good conversation, and really fun memories to be had for years...PRICELESS!!!

Blessings #27-45

I was supposed to post a blessing every week this year and I have gotten very far behind. I am just going to quickly post of few random some, nonimportant to an important life, but things that I feel a blessing in my life nonetheless!
#27...Diet Pepsi. I know...It is something I shouldn't be consuming as much as I do-but I consider it one of the finer things in life! To get me through some of the crummier things in life.
#28...Spray tan. My friend Val gets this spray tan at one of the beauty supply stores and I love it! Ever since she has told me about it, I buy it with her when I can. In the winter especially I love to just spray my face. It gives me a little bit of sun during the long winter months that aren't so sunny.
#29...Microwaves. I hate to cook. Nuff said!
#30...My bathrobe. Not just for coverage, but warm and fuzzy.
#31...To go with my bathrobe...My fuzzy flip flop Slippers. Love them!!
#32...Automatic doors that open with a push of a button.
#33...My cell phone so that I can do more multi tasking while I am away from my home! And so that my kids can call me when they are sick at school because I am rarely home.
#34...Caramel Corn!
#35...Vaccums.
#36...When you're sick...Cold medicine that makes you sleepy.
#37...Adjustable waists on kids jeans! Whoever invented that is a mom for sure!
#38...Romantic comedies.
#39...Alarm Clocks. I'd rather have a rooster-but whatever.
#40...Costume Jewelry.
#41...An address stamp so I don't have to handwrite the whole thing every time.
#42...Portable juice boxes and individually packaged snacks.
#43...Holiday Placemats (i got some new Turkey ones the other day)
#44...Vaseline
#45...An actual letter in the actual snail mail!
Okay! There I am all caught up! Thank you for reading my random blessings!

Fall 2009

Fall is usually one of my favorite times of the year. Not this year. Mainly because I need some SUNSHINE and I am not ready for winter...and in Idaho Falls, fall usually only lasts 3-4 days before winter hits HARD! But I am trying to embrace it as well as I can. Leaves are a pain to rake and get rid of, but I always love the jumping in them activity. The kids had so much fun this afternoon while they were playing in the leaves.

Jeffs Birthday is October 28th. Last year was his 40th and I did a huge party/movie for him http://nelsonhappenings2.blogspot.com/2008/11/happy-40th-jeff.html, so this year was mild compared to that, but we still went to his moms and she cooked him dinner and we sang to him while Calli accompanied us on her guitar. Happy Birthday Jeff!!! Hope you had a good one!?

I am not in the "celebrating" mood right now. However, as a mom, you need to go through the motions for your kids because you may have a lot more Halloweens left, or you feel like you have lived your Halloweens already, but your kids are only going to have this year ONCE and so it is my job to just keep on going whether I feel like it or not. The kids are getting so much older and I realize that Halloween will soon become another reason for them to hang out with their friends and maybe wear questionable costumes to a party, or just be too cool to participate period. I tried to embrace Halloween this year for all of those reasons. We didn't do much. The kids picked out their costumes one night and I am always curious about the costume choices. Especially Calli. Never has she been anything "girly". This year it was a gangster! Okay? It was totally her and cute anyway. Mack was a ninja. Quentin has been a little cool for Halloween for a couple of years now but he still went out with Jeff and the kids to participate by helping them eat a few pieces of candy...Jeff had a lot of fun taking the kids out with a couple of other families. Mack pooped out a little early and so Jeff and Calli went around to quite a few more places before they came home, emptied her bag and then went around to a few more streets in my moms neighborhood before they were finally done. It was fun to have him do that with her.

Blessing #26

Someone told me the other day that I needed to "loosen up and have a little fun". This new blessing in my life is all "FUN"! I love this new show on FOX. I have to admit that it brings back a lot of fun memories of my high school days in show choir...but mostly, I believe that it is very well written, the characters are so cleverly pieced together and the music...Just go onto iTunes and hear it for yourself. AMAZING!!!! My favorite songs so far have been the Mash-ups!! The two characters above are two of my favorites. I love each character for the unique quality and voice that they bring to the show. Love them!!!

Blessing #26 GLEE

YELLOWSTONE

My mom rented a cabin the beginning of October in West Yellowstone and mom, Ben, me, Jon, Michael, Joe and all of our families came up to enjoy one of the best weekends that I have had all year! (We missed Sara's family and Tim!!!) What a special time to spend with each other and to have such happy times together. A lot of our times spent together this year have been centered around dad and him being sick and then with the funeral. It is nice to get together with no agenda in sight and just to be there with family. The cabin was so nice and roomy for our huge troop and we couldn't have asked for any better weather. It was perfect!!! We went into the park a few times and were able to see some fun stuff, take a really nice hike, and even got a little too close to a buffalo!!! Nothing that I hadn't seen before, but it was different this time. I had a friend say the other day that you really can only go to Yellowstone every once in a while because there are only so many times that you can see Old Faithful and the painted pots. I agree a little bit, however, this trip was a little different for me because the last time I was at Yellowstone I was with Dad. I miss him, and I felt like I was a little closer to him and some memories of him than I haven't felt for a while. Dad loved nature and the outdoors and he especially loved Yellowstone. While I was there, I thought about him and how he had been there so many times. He never tired of seeing things over and over again and stand in awe of our Heavenly Father's creations. I hope that he was there with us walking along side smiling seeing his family together.

Blessing #25

Something that I have been grateful lately are for people that know the things that they know and the talents that they possess so that they can make our lives easier. Just a few examples, Jeff's car had a lot of issues and we took it to a mechanic and they just fixed it all up!! The sprinkler guys came over the other day to blow our sprinklers out for the winter and it was such a relief to know that that was done. I could probably find a way to do it on my own and for cheaper, but what a relief that all I have to do is make a phone call. My computer has been on the Fritz lately and even though I won't take it in because it works on and off and I am too cheap to do so, I know that all I would have to do is make a phone call and I could get it done. Yesterday, I went up to the cemetery with my mom and brother, Tim and we watched as two guys placed my dad's headstone on his grave. I was amazed the entire time not just at how beautiful it is and how amazing it was to see everything "set in stone" but the process which they set the stone into the ground. The engraver did a beautiful job and the guys setting it were very careful and there was quite the art to it. I was so grateful to them and their talent and how serious they took it and with what care they performed their service.

Blessing #25...People who serve us through their employment and through their knowledge and talents to do so.

Blessing # 24

For the past three weeks Grandpa Craig has been with us in our home. Never before in my life have I ever felt as if I owed someone my life. He has saved my life on so many levels and in addition, he has been such a joy to be around. He came promptly after Jeff got out of the hospital and has been here for three weeks helping Jeff, the kids, and helping me more than he will ever know! Yesterday we took him to the airport and for a moment, I felt as if I wasn't going to be able to breathe! He has been such a blessing to our whole family right now. Jeff and I are so glad that we still have a dad in our lives and the kids love having a grandpa still in thier lives as well. Belssing #24...Craig. We love you and miss you so much already!

Hamster Farewell

We lost Dashette on Thursday, October 1st. Calli ran upstairs that morning to tell me that Dashette was dead. She was with a friend and they rattled some stuff off about how Hali was going to pick her up and they found that she was stiff. Then, they ran out of my room. I wasn't sure what to think of the tornado that just exited my room. I went downstairs to asses exactly what happened and how she felt. I asked how she was feeling and she started tearing up. I gave her a hug and she started crying even more. Luckily my friend was there too and she told the girls that they should start planning a funeral. The plans began. They were on a mission! Out came the crayons, scissors, stickers, boxes and paper. In just moments, they had invitations, a headstone, necklaces, and plans for each of them to make a kind of cookies for the funeral.

We had the funeral out in the backyard. They had scouted out a special spot to place her. They started by having the boys carry her in a special box. They placed her in the hole and then Mack placed the dirt on top and then Calli placed the stone. Then we each said a few words about Dashette. We talked about how naughty she was with all of her escaping and roaming around the house without permission. We talked about he running like crazy in her wheel and how it drove us crazy during the night. We joked about how Grandpa must have wanted a pet in heaven with him. There were a few tears but mostly smiles and laughing. At the end we were able to eat the yummy cookies the girls had made. We all really grew to love Dashette, even me. I know that Calli will miss her. She did a great job taking care of her first pet.

Blessing #23

After being in the hospital for four days with my husband (Please don't be alarmed...he's fine)....There couldn't be a better blessing than my sister's blog with her recent posts about Bertha. Here's the link so that you all call be blessed. http://www.saraslivinthedream.blogspot.com/

Blessing #23..A Humorous Sister to give me a good belly laugh
I guess maybe I am happy that I am sitting in the hospital instead of being pregnant.

Blessing #22

Modern Medicine is a wonderful blessing. Modern Medicine gives people a new lease on life everyday! They are continually coming up with new and improved things and curing diseases and vaccinations to prevent, etc etc. Jeff has really been struggling with his health the last few years and although there have been sometimes when the doctors are as frustrated as we are and throw their hands up as well, most of them have given it their all and have tried to help Jeff. Through our frustrations with it, and them not always knowing how to "heal" him, I am often reminded of something my dad said when he told me one time that that is why they call it a medical "practice". Modern Medicine was able to remove Jeff's Gall Bladder a couple of weeks ago without having to cut across his belly! Modern Medicine helped to prolong my dad's life so that we could be with him a few years longer. I was watching a segment about cancer the other day and they were mentioning that there are some vaccines for some cancers now. It is amazing! What developing minds there are out there. I am grateful for Modern Medicine in my life and that there are people out there with this desire and passion to heal, help and to protect.

Blessing #22...Modern Medicine

Blessing #21

It seems as if I have been able to spend a little more time with all of my brothers a lot this summer and it has been really nice. The older I get, the more that I appreciate the relationships that I have with each of them. None of them are guys that I call every week, or even once a month for that matter, but when we see each other, we have so much fun with one another. I was thinking about all of them other day and each one of them are sooo different. They all have different personalities and bring something unique to the mix, but then there are some similarities as well. We are like a little family "melting pot". It is so much fun to be able to see them all together and to see them interact with one another.

Jon is the oldest and plays that role really well. He is great at being in charge and yet being concerned about what everyone is interested in and about every one's well being. He has always been an active guy that knows how to have a good time. Everyone is drawn to him and wants to be around him. Michael helps me remember what it was like to be a child in our family. He is still a kid at heart and still does and says things that just makes us laugh. I have a lot of great memories of Michael and with Michael and it is fun to joke about those "good ol' days!" Tim is just Tim. He has always been someone who knows who he is and doesn't define himself by what others would think of him or what others would expect of him. I have always loved that about him. He has the greatest laugh too. More like a giggle. Joe is gentle, yet firm in everything that he believes in. There is no arguing with Joe. He loves to talk about things that are a little controversial and hear what others think and feel. Plus he lets you know how HE feels. He is dang adorable with his kids and with his wife Bethany. Ben, Ah Ben. Poor Ben. He seems to be the brunt of a lot of our jokes and will forever be the perpetual youngest child in the family. However, he has one of the kindest hearts that I know and is probably the most sensitive of my brothers. Even though he is focused on himself right now, one day when the time is right, he will idolize his wife and do anything for her within his control because he will love her so much. I also have a brother that I knew here on the Earth for a short time when he was a baby. Christopher only lived short of a couple of months but probably touched my life and continues to do so just as much as all of my other brothers. He was the first experience that I ever had with death and with my own feelings on mortality and of what is to come in the afterlife. Knowing I have a sibling on the other side has always helped me to live a little bit better so that I can be with him again someday.

I am super proud to be a sister to all of these great men! Those who are fathers and spouses are incredible ones and all of them conduct their lives in the way which any sister would be proud. They are all so good at what they do for professions and enjoy many other aspects of their lives (Two of my bros are Professors at BYU)!

Thanks Boys for being such a marvelous blessing in my life!

Blessing # 21...SIX BROTHERS

Teenager!

On August 29th, Jeff and I officially became the proud parents of a TEENAGER!!! Quentin turned thirteen on his birthday and I am full of mixed emotions! First of all, Jeff is getting old!, second....I only have about a third of his time at home with us left! I spent a lot of time reflecting on his birth this year. Probably because we drove by the High School after we registered him for Middle School again this year and realized that he will be going there next year!!! Yikes! Time has flown by! All he wanted for his birthday was a laptop just like his sister, but after the total "Geek Squad" guys explained to me all about video cards on laptops, or lack thereof, he decided that he just wanted to purchase a bunch of Lego Star Wars ships! It was fun to take him shopping. He's adorable! I had also redone his bedroom as part of his birthday and as a surprise to him while he was at Scout camp this summer ( watch for future post).

Words really cannot describe what joy Quentin has brought to our home. I know that all of you know, but he is just plain incredible! I am impressed by him at least once a day! The other day, he told me that he was writing in his journal while he was watching a spider crawl around up his wall and I was like-what what what?? you write in a journal!??? If a mother had the right to read a journal...I would go and snatch it right up and read it while eating some ice cream! He also informed us that he was running for Vice President the other day! What what what? Our shy little Q!?? We helped him make some posters to hang up at school with the photos below. He just keeps surprising us and we love each new corner that we are privileged to turn with our first son and oldest child. Thanks for allowing us to "grow up" with you Quentin!

I don't really freak out about my kids getting older because I enjoy each new stage better than the last! It just keeps getting better! What more could a mother want than a 13 year old that is an amazing example to everyone around him (even his parents), a 10 year old daughter that loves to do everything that I do and wants to do it WITH me, and a small but mighty 6 year old that still wants to give me kisses on the lips and gives a hug that will rock your world! I love these ages and I hope that it just keeps going that way with each new stage!

Summer-IZE

The kids with their school "walking" group first day of school.

My heart is breaking. Summer is over!!!! Thankfully, we may have a few more days of warm weather-but school is in! There are a lot of reasons that I could ramble on about why I am so upset that my children started school today, but let's just leave it at sadness and I am missing them dearly already!

In the meantime, I haven't blogged for forever...pretty much all summer long and so I am going to try to summarize our activities this summer in three different parts...June, July, and August.

PART ONE-JUNE

Most of our June was centered around dad and the last days of his life here on earth. However, amongst the sadness and sacredness of that event, we did seem to be able to have some fun with our family.

Mack played his first year of T-Ball, had a rough start, loved playing catcher and pitcher, was a phenomenal hitter-every time, loved paying with all of his friends.

Mack turned SIX, Celebrated with every family member on the Ostenson side, got a lot of Batman stuff, had a double birthday party with cousin Christopher, & showed us his toothless smile (hopefully the last year!!).

Calli Turned 10! Had a few friends over, made Stromboli's and beaded watches, got peace stuff and a laptop (which she payed for 1/2), played games all night, and played "popular" girls in the morning??

PART TWO- JULY

Went on a mini family vacation south, stayed at Circus Circus, swam and rode the rides (we are an amusement park family), saw Ryan and Becca and cousins in Vegas, stayed at Grandma Nelson's Oasis in St. George and relaxed the days away! So nice being together with just our "little" family.
Mack and the clowns at Circus Circus

Still July....Visit from Grandpa Craig and Grandma Sue, taught Grandpa Guitar Hero, day at Riot Zone, Movies, Ice Cream, and Bowling, so much fun to see them and grateful that they are in our lives.

Calli's cousin, Maddie came to visit for a week and Mack and Quentin went to their house for a cousin exchange. Matching pajamas, swimming, walking everyday with mom (aunt) and grandma, rollerblading and scootering, made watches, and shopped until we dropped!!!!!

Girls Camp at Falls Creek, three girls, four leaders and two priesthood, four mile hike, shot my first gun EVER, beautiful creations of our Heavenly Father, floating a very rocky stream, punctured every raft we had, laughed until my belly was sore, Felt like a little girl again!

Love my fearless Presidency!!! These are them!!! Aren't they gorgeous????

PART THREE-AUGUST

Mack finally learned how to ride two wheels! After two fearful years of deciding that falling off wasn't fun...determination got the best of him and he conquered it after the first few minutes!! Bike rides were my favorite summer activity with my kids this year!

Aunt Bethany and kids came to visit, had a sleepover at Grandma's and went to the zoo.

Alex (Jeff's little bro) and his new wife Anna got married on the 15th!! Beautiful couple, beautiful day, beautiful grand kids, beautiful family. Such a special experience to be in the temple with Jeff's family and be able to be reminded of the beautiful blessings and promises of the sealing. A great reminder considering that Jeff and I ourselves had just celebrated our 16th (gasp!) Anniversary. We went to Jackson Hole for a night while Grandma O watched the kids and had a special time there together.

As a last hurrah, we went to Boise to do our back to school clothes shopping. SOOOOO FUN! It is a tradition that we have started and it is always so fun. The Ross family is just like family to us. The kids love each other and I won't go into how attached I am to my friend Val! We love you guys! Thank you for EVERYTHING!!!!
One more thing.... This was a common scene at our house this summer. Quentin and Calli sitting on the stairs reading. I don't think that I could count how many books Quentin read over the summer. Glad that was one of their activities.